During his annual State of the Port Address, Georgia Ports Authority Executive Director Griff Lynch announced record cargo volumes, infrastructure development and two new customers bringing a combined 1 million square feet of additional distribution center space to Savannah.
GPA Executive Director delivered his State of the Port address Thursday, October 12, 2017, at the Savannah Propeller Club.
During his presentation, Lynch announced two major e-commerce developments. These announcements are in addition to 3 million square feet of distribution center space completed within the last year, and 5.2 million square feet currently under construction.
Lynch also outlined plans to accommodate record growth and expand new markets. Those plans include: a $128 million Mega-Rail Project; growing Savannah’s crane fleet; the Appalachian Regional Port; adding capacity for motor carriers; statewide logistics expansion; and the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP).
Overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the SHEP will deepen the outer harbor to 49 feet at low tide (56 feet at high tide), and the inner harbor to 47 feet (54 feet at high tide). At the moment, the project is 35 percent complete, with a finish date in late 2020.
It will allow the largest vessels calling on the Port of Savannah to take on heavier loads and to transit the river without having to wait for high tide. Since the opening of the expanded Panama Canal at the start of FY2017, the percentage of the fleet calling on Savannah that are neo-Panamax vessels has grown from 42 percent to 60 percent.